Who Needs Guidance?

A key issue in guidance provision is how to make services flexible and responsive to client need. A model is presented which distinguishes between individuals with high, medium and low levels of readiness for career decisionmaking. It is suggested that those with high levels can be referred to self-help services; those with moderate readiness to brief staff-assisted services; and those with low readiness to individual case-managed services. The theoretical basis for the model, the use of diagnostic instruments within the model, its implications for career resource rooms and Internet websites, and its staffing implications, are discussed. Elements of the model are currently being applied in a careers service setting in Coventry. The main principles of this work are described, and the more general relevance to the model to current policy issues in the UK is examined.

The Centre for Guidance Studies was created in 1998 by the University of Derby and five careers service companies (the Careers Consortium (East Midlands Ltd.). The centre aims to bridge the gap between guidance theory and practice. It
supports and connects guidance practitioners, policy-makers and researchers through research activities and learning opportunities; and by providing access to resources related to guidance and lifelong learning.